Calcutta University will admit students of its affiliated colleges to its postgraduate departments based on an admission test, ending the practice of mark-based entry, said vice-chancellor Ashutosh Ghosh.
Most of the postgraduate departments want to screen students seeking admission to two-year postgraduate programmes through tests, the VC said.
Currently, 80% of the postgraduate seats at the university are reserved for students pursuing undergraduate programmes at colleges affiliated to CU, and these students are admitted based on marks. Graduate students from other universities take admission tests for the remaining 20% of the seats.
“But department heads, particularly in the humanities, believe that marks do not reflect a student’s aptitude for pursuing a master’s degree. Most departments
will therefore screen all students — both from CU-affiliated colleges and other universities — through admission tests,” said Ghosh.
“However, if any department, like the Buddhist Studies, wants to admit students based on marks, the university will not object,” the VC said.
According to the National Education Policy (NEP) regulations, a student will be admitted to a two-year master’s programme if they are enrolled in a four-year undergraduate programme (introduced in 2023) and exit as an honours graduate at the end of the third year.
A student will be admitted into a one-year master’s programme if he or she receives an honours degree with research at the end of the fourth year.
A CU official said students graduating with research in 2027 will not be required to write any admission tests while getting into the one-year postgraduate programme.
“Since they will be undertaking research in their fourth year, we do not want them to prove their proficiency by writing any admission test. But a formal decision is yet to be taken,” said the VC.